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In this unit we took a look the the productive skills: speaking and writing, which are used to communicate. We should understand that accuracy activities are concentrated on producing correct language and usually part of the study stage, fluency activities are concentrated on creative usage of the language and usually part of the activate phase.
Considering speaking it's good to emphasize that accuracy and fluency carry equal importance. Speaking activities consist of controlled activities where language is controlled by the teacher (drilling and prompting), guided activities where output is contolled by the teacher but the exact language isn't (model dialogues and guided role-play), creative communication where the scenario is created by the teacher but the content of the language isn't (free role-play, discussions, information gap, debates, simulations, communication games). Sometimes students are rather reluctant to speak for several reasons: lack of confidence, fear of making mistakes, peer intimidation, lack of interest in the topic, previous learning experiences, cultural reasons. A teacher's task is to create a comfortable atmosphere where students enjoy communicating. To encourage interaction we can use pair-work, group-work, controlled and guided practice before fluency activities, make speaking activities purposeful, change the classromm dyamics, careful planning, give students time to think about what they are going to say. There are certain guidlines for a free/creative speaking activity that we should follow before the lesson, during the activity and after the activity to reach the goals of it.
Considering writing we should understand the difference with speaking in such factors as: handwriting, spelling, layout and punctuation, creative writing. Some students may need special training in formation of individual letters. Also poor writing may lead to misunderstanding that is why the teacher should encourage the students to improve it. Incorrect spelling also can not only create misunderstandings but can often be perceived, by the reader, to reflect a lack of education. We should remember that even if punctuation is often a matter of personal style but totally incorrect usage can lead rather awkward and difficult looking pieces of writing. Creative writing tasks may include poetry, stories and plays where students can be involved not only individually but also in pairs and groups.
Games can provide controlled practice, free practice material and should be regarded as an integral part of the syllabus. Each game has rules, a goal and an element of fun. Many conventional and unconventional games can be adapted to language teaching. There are competitive and co-operative games which can be further broken down into communicative and linguistic games. A good teacher should be creative and open to use games.
